Safety razor and blade



March 13, 1945.

M. J. sHNlTzLr-:R

SAFETY RAZOR AND BLADE Filedv sept. 12, 1944 Patented Mar. 13, 1945. ly, l e

4UNiTriD STATES PATENT ortica* SAFETY RAZOR AND BLADE Meyer J.Shnitzler, Jamaica Plain, lMass., assigner to 4Gillette Safety RazorCompany, Boston, Mass., a corpcrationtof Delaware Application September12, 1944, Serial No. 553,679

9 Claims. (Cl. 30-70) ,v The present invention consists in a new and f1tothe very time of its presentation for shaving improved blade forsafety razors of the type emin the safety razor.

f the tie is of seconda-ry ploying cooperating blade-clamping membersfoi 'I'he particular shape c o supporting a thin flexible blade inposition for importance so long as 1t fulfills the requirements shaving.Two general types of such safety razors 5 above outlined. If the razorcontains an elonare now commonly used; one in which the twciv gatedblade-locating rib, the blade iS C'OIISSPOHCI- to provide; an la in.members f the azor aie detachable mgly slotted and 1t 1S lmpqrtant yndllia be entirely? separted for the removal unobstructed passage t0thls Slot when the tl'e `or resentetion of the blade, and the other iniS broken out of the blade. This is true because whilzlh the clampingmembers are not detachl0 if the passage were to be interrupted byragged. able but are arranged for a nmifd Separationf-i fragments of thet1e left in the blade it could not only in Order to provide passage inwhich the be passed over the blade-locating rib. v'With that `blade'maybe presented endwise between them. nd in VW @n ,important featm'eOfthElDVB-H *sary to employ an web ed blade; ,thans to Say, 15 terminalenlargement, wider than the blade slot .a madenaving its two sharpenedside portions land in S0 arraneinethe tie that itis greater in separatedby a medial longitudinal slot opening length from Side t0 Side than theWidth of the out throughone of its unsharpened endsslot. Accordingly,when the tie is broken out of The rineipei object of the presentinvention is the blade it removes With it an 'areapfdll to protlflide athin, nexibie safety razor blade of .2 free and unvbstruted aDprQaChtof-the enrvf such construction that it may be trianufactured the bladeSlot-v referred manner of effecting the desired re- A p and yet may beused with equal feeiiity-in razors Sluts iS t0 notch the @sharpened endPortion it compares fvorably with a C10sed end blade I30 mum of force tcelect the desired results.

in the facility of the manufacturing steps by l Allolllel: benellclalresult of ,this blade con' which it is produced. It is entirelyconvenient stluctlon 1S that lt Tendegrs Posslble the employ' for theuser 1n that its t1 ansformation intoan mellttof a' safety llzolf; lllWhlcll thetclampm open-end blade requires 'no effort or attention` onopera loll may be e ec ed from a een ral pom the part of the user but iseffected in the usual 3" Without Wholly Sellaralllllg the clampmgmembers steps of withdrawing the blade from 1ts magafor the presenllalmnof the blade' Zme or of presentmg It to the Safety razor. 'Ihese andother features of the inventmn will I have discovered that these andother advanbe @est understood and appreclated from the fol' 40 l me,connectmg lmk or budge between the two p thereof selected for purposesof illustration and 1 a magazine or in the razor itself for breaking outsca e of the ead of 'a Safety razollvsllowmq this tie in the step ofpresenting the blade to the 45 blade as bem? presented thereto;

razor. The tie may be so iocatedin the" bled Flg 2 ls a slmllal vlew Olthe blade alone;

`ing the 'blade in this selffcontained conditiony up 55 Fig. 3 is a framenta View .in rs ective .that lt does not ln ally Way llltellele Wltllple' showing the end if the rllllade with tlle 1tlieY rel l moved; 1

for the reception of a fresh blade. `During the 5o ingpl 13 aglg a sul]Iellgr scafleholll manufacturing Pl'ofess` mQTeQVeI' the ,tie main Fig.5 is a View in longitudinal :section corretains the blade as aself-contained unit, prevent- 'spending to Fig 1,. and

ing any spreading or distortion of the side' pory rtg. 6 isa detailedtop pian view of asprine tions of the blade at its free end andmaintainelement Shown in Figs- 1 and 5,

The invention as herein shown is embodiedfin guiding edges for centeringletter is presented to the appear.

blade. These yend portions, stitute flexing hinges when the blade isclamped a blade of the well-known Gillette type a1- though it is notlimited in its application to that or to any specific type of blade butwith appropriate modifications may be embodied with advantage in anyslotted blade.

The blade herein shown is formed of thin flexible sheet steel .003 to.007 inch, or thereabouts, in thickness. It comprises two sharpened sideportions I of complementary shape with sharpened longitudinal edges II.The side portions o the blade are partially separated by a longitudinalmedial slot I2 terminating at both ends in a transverse enlargementsubstantially wider than the slot and having a curved transverse endedge. As herein shown, the blade is provided also with a pair ofintermediate diamond-shaped enlargements and with a circular centralenlargement to fit and receive blade-locating projections and the capspindle of the razor with which the blade is to be used. Preferably andas herein shown. the walls I of the slot which connect the terminalenlargement I3 with the intermediate enlargement I4, and the rest of theslot, diverge toward the end of the blade and are utilized as the bladeWhen the razor as will presently The blade is provided'in each of itscorners with l a reentrant notch andthese notches define elon- `gatedunsharpened end portions I6 and II in the or one of them, conintransversely curved position for shaving in the razor. As herenshown,one end portion IB only is modified for purposes of the presentinvention; the other I1 being left in its usual shape.

Centrally disposed in the end I6, however, `is a tongue I8 dened by endnotches I9 and 2li. The outer walls of these notches are spaced apart Vagreater distance than the width of the Slot I2, these dimensions beingindicated in Fig. 4 by reference characters A and B and the relationshipexists A B. The inner` walls of the notches I9 .and .20 flare outwardlyand the base of the tongue I8 merges into the tie or bridge portion 2l`the inner edge of which is .formed by the transverse terminalenlargement I3. It will thus be seen reduced in thickness at its ends bythe shape of the notches I9 and 20, is the only connection in the end I6between the two side portions of the blade. The bladeis given thischaracteristic shape in order to provide a fragile, easily breakable tiethat can be removed by the application of slight force and when soremoved will provide an unobstructed opening into the slot I2 which isat least as wide as the slot itself and which will thus permit thepresentation of a rib or other projection having the full width oftheslot.

Having provided a fragile tie in this manner, provision is made foreasily removing it by forming the tie integrally with the tongue I8which extends longitudinally intothe space provided by the notches I9and 20. l Accordingly when the tongue is twisted in either direction outof the plane of theblade the tie 2l is snapped of! and broken out of theblade along two lines running into the enlargement I3. These lines offracture generally converge slightly ask clearly shown in Fig.- 3 sothat the opening formed in the end of the blade is slightly contractedat the outer edge f the enlargement I3. However, since the outer edgesof the .notches i9 and 2B are substantially widerthan the blade 'slot I2the points or fangs remaining in the blade will always be spaced morewidely apart than the width of the blade slot and the effective openingthus provided will permit the entrance of a rib of the full width of theslot.

The tongue I8 may be twisted to break the tie 2| by means availableeither in the razor or in the magazine but as herein shown the safetyrazor is equipped with a tie removing device. The razor illustrated inFigs. l and 5 comprises a guard member 22 secured to the upper end ofthe handle 23 and a cooperating cap member 24. The blade supporting faceof the guard member is generally convex in transverse contour and theinner face of the cap.24 is correspondingly concave so that when theblade is clamped between them it has imparted to it a substantialtransverse curvature.

To the upper face a forked-leaf spring of the guard is attached 25 (seealso Fig. 6) which extends the full length of the guardmember. It `iscentrally perforated to afford free passage fol' `the cap spindle 26 andslightly separated at its side edges yfrom the upper surface of theguard. It serves as a blade-locating and re- I yand break out the tie 2itaining ldevice in vrises a rib 28 having the `razor when an open-endblade is slipped endwise beneath its edges. Its forked ends are slightlyared upwardly to facilitate entrance of the blade and the end edges ofthe guard are correspondingly beveled for the same purpose.

Corner studs 2l project downwardly from each corner of the cap and arereceived in correspond ing recesses provided for thatpurpose in the bodyvof the guard 22. The locating studs v2l engage the shoulders of theelongated end portions I6 and Il of the blade, thus not only locatingthe blade transversely of the razor but positively preventing distortionby spreading of theside portions I0 at the open end of the blade.

The guard is cut away centrally near `each end for the reception of abreaking device constructed and arranged to engage the tongue III by atwisting movement when a blade is presented to the razor as suggested inFig. 5 of the drawing. This tie-breaking device comprises a -flat plate28 from which vwardly inclined edge face 30. The rib 29 extendsupwardly, slightly above the surface of the guard and substantiallyiiush with the forked ends of the retaining spring 25. The device isheldin position by a screw 3I passing through the plate 28 and threadedinto the body of the guard 22. The retaining spring 25 is secured inplace by rivets 32 passing into the body of the guard.

From vthe foregoing description it will be .apparent that when a bladeofthe construction illustrated in Figs. 1-4 is presented to either endof the razor by `hand or from a magazine thcend of the 'blade I6 movesinwardly along the surface of the guard 22 while the tongue I8y'encounters the inclined edge 38 of the rib 29 andis deflecteddownwardly by it. As the blade is pressed .inwardly the tongue vI8 isdeflected or twisted downwardly more and 2l is broken away from the endof the blade and a passage opened into the end of Vthe slot I2 throughthe diverging edges I5 above referred to. When this happens, the bladeis free to be advanced fully into shaving position. It is kept centrallyin yalignment by the rib 28 which fills the vblade slot I 2 and it isarrested in the .proper longitudinal position .by the engagement of theinclined wall of the vrib 28 with the inside edge of the slotted end I'Iofthe blade. This locates a downwardly and rear-l more until finally the-tie the blade with the cap studs 21 properly regend portions defined byspaced end notches, and l istering with the end notches in the blade. oAca tie extending transversely between the' inner cordingly the cap maynow be drawn downends of said notchesand across the end of said wardlyinto blade-clamping position by a screwlongitudinal slot. threadedconnection (not shown) with the cap 5 6. Adouble edged blade for asafety razor, havspindle 26. l ing sharpened edge portions `partiallyseparated Having thus disclosed my invention and `debyalongitudinalmedialslot transversely widened scribed in detail an illustrativeembodiment at its end, an unsharpened end portion, a transthereof, IclaimI as new and desire to secure by verse tie joining the sideportions adjacent to and Letters Patent: o beyond the widened end of thesaid s1ot,*and a l5 broken by twisting the said tongue.

mentand having side edges dened by notches 7. A safety razor and bladecombination in- I that spread wider than said slot. cluding a razorhaving cooperating blade-clamp- 2. A safety razor blade comprising twosharping members provided at one end with wedgeened side portionsseparated by a longitudinal shaped tie-breaking device, together with aslot terminating in an enlargement, a tongue 20. slotted blade having aslot-closing tie at one end defined by parallel notches in the end `ofthe located in position to be broken out of the blade blade, and a,breakable tie into which the tongue I by the tie-breaking device of therazor when the merges and which is longer from end vto end than "bladeiS presented endWiSe between the Said the width of the slot. clampingmembers.

3. A safety razor blade comprising sharpened 8. A safety razor and bladecombination inside portions, separated by a longitudinal slot cluding arazor having cooperating blade-clamphaving a terminal enlargement, atongue projecting members arranged to be seperated t0 provide ingoutwardly in line with said slot, and a breaka blade-passage betweenthem, and a tie breaker able tie connected to said tongue and beingitself located in the blade passage at one end 0f the "o across one endof its slot located in position to be of the said blade slot; whereby anunobstructed broken by. encountering said tie-breaker when passage tothe slot is opened when the tie is presented endwise between the saidclamping members. I

cludinga razor having cooperating` blade-clamp- 35 9. A safety razor andblade combination inenlargement 40 ing a tie across one end of its slot,the tie having 5. A double edged blade for a. safety razor, havaprojection vso located as to encounter the said ing corner notchesdeiining elongated unsharpinclined face, whereby the tie may be brokenout ened end portions and alongitudinal slot extendby a twistingmovement. i ing into said end portions, a tongue in one of said MEYER J.SHNITZLER..

